Randomness, ok

[lyssie]

1. I know this is probably going to surprise a few people, but my interest in the new version of Murder on the Orient Express was never particularly high (Johnny Depp, y'know. So dull and also an asshole). However, the trailers make it look incredibly awful. Like, painfully badly done. Just to check, I have also watched the Suchet trailer. It has some of the same beats, but it's just better. So my interest is at the point of "if someone pays me, I'll watch it." I'm old, I'm allowed to be judgemental.

2. I cannot believe it is mid-November already. Like. Wasn't it just my birthday?

3. Teslacon this year was... mostly all right. I still find the back-patting "Steampunk isn't like all the other girls" bullshit the fandom tends to say and act like utter, well, bullshit. Because, no. Fandom is fandom, no one is special.

4. HOW AMAZING IS THOR RAGNAROK. I... I need to write a post.

5. Also, I need to talk about Sherlock series four at some point, because I have watched it and I have thoughts and such (and Thor sort of coagulated a couple of them for me, disturbingly).

6. That aside, can I also state that my attraction to Loki (and possibly Hiddleston, ok, don't judge) confuses me. But he wears a black on black tailored suit at one point, and I was just like "...nng." I would have to go back and watch, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't all that in the first two movies.

7. I was re-watching some of the older Midsomer Murders, and I find them a bit... annoying. Like, some of the later ones go all over the place and can be pretty out there. But some of those early ones just---the killer's logic and motivation makes no fucking sense. There are also a lot of killer suicides in that first four seasons. Or cop-assisted ones. (I also re-watched part of the one with Vivian Fay as a novelist, and she still remains amazing. And it is also still one of my favorites)

7a. I also really can't stand Troy very much. :/

8. I also re-watched some of season 9 of Doctor Who. Because Clara is my girl, and I just. That season has bits that will make me flail forever (and the ending, just.). Oddly, I'm pretty sure I still owe a post talking about season 9? I should get on that, because I did have thoughts about it once upon a time. And I should stop putting it off as it should mean I'm watching season 10 soon.

9. Work is work. Got my review this week, which was a good one. I appreciate that.

10. It is dark enough as I walk to the bus stop on my way home from work that I'm seriously considering investing in some glow sticks so I'm actually noticeable in my black winter coat and dark trousers and black shoes.

Comments

[meganbmoore]

I keep forgetting that johnny Depp s in that. What keeps throwing me off is that, as good an actor as Branaugh is, he is physically completely wrong for Poirot. To tall, not nearly round enough, and the staches just aren't right. I don't think it's been nearly long enough since the A&E series ended for a new actor playing Poirot. David suchet spent 25~ years at it and even if some actual episodes were weak, his performance was consistently acclaimed. (In contrast, we had 3 different long-ish term Marples over the same time period, so a new Marple in a couple years would be considerably less jarring.)

I've watched the first 18 series (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) of Midsomer Murders over the last few months, and Troy is by far my least favorite sidekick. And the only one aside from Bullard to get an actual send-off episode, instead of our being told the next season that he/she got transferred. (Except for Scott, who called in sick one day and then was never mentioned again...)

One thing I found interesting is that you can see the rise of the procedural as the show progresses. Earlier seasons often took the Christie-esque approach of building up the victim's world and relationships before killing them off (the "killer commits suicide" is also a popular Christie trope) while more recent series have the victim die right at the start, or after just one introductory scene, and are more prone to discussing technology and methods. Not that it' become anything close to a procedural, but the influence is there.

[lyssie]

Depp is the focus of at least one of the trailers which was, admittedly, a massive turn-off.

What's weird is that, having seen some of the other Poirots, I probably wouldn't mind Branagh (I mean, I don't think of anyone but Suchet as Poirot, but just as some random detective type).

Also, it probably doesn't help my dislike that the reviews I was reading of the movie don't even MENTION the Suchet series, and at least one of them was going on about how we'd desperately needed Poirot to get the cinematic treatment, and, well, like them or not the last ten years of Suchet's run WERE incredibly cinematic with gorgeous photography and brilliant casting.

But you are correct about Marple. That does lend itself to ever and more reboots. Poirot, otoh, I think we need maybe another decade? Like, the Sherlock Holmes movies were nearly two decades after the Brett Holmes series, and Sherlock and Elementary, too.

Although I think perhaps a modern take on Poirot a la Elementary could be all right.

Scott was the first, I think, to randomly disappear. But yeah, the show is a bit abrupt about them all. And I think Troy only managed it by being in the middle of a season. The rest have all tended to be between seasons when contracts expire or actors pick a different show to go with.

The Christie-esque approach is actually one of the reasons I quite like watching the show - even the later seasons have given a lot of insight into the people involved. It's not just detectives doing their thing.

But it has gotten more about the deaths, science and detecting a bit more. It's usually fairly good science, though. I've not felt like going "you can't get dna from that or fingerprints from bullets, stop it" much.

I feel it's gotten a bit more into psychology, or tried to, with newBarnaby's degree being touted often. Whether it's the correct psychology or not is another matter entirely.

[meganbmoore]

I have complete confidence in Branagh's ability to portray Poirot in terms of personality and mannerisms, but...

I haven't read any reviews, but ugh. And it's not old or obscure in the least.

re: Midsomer. Yeah, the approach is why I've watched so much despite all the issues. To me, the main dividing line between mysteries and procedurals is why and how. Procedurals are mostly concerned with how the crime was committed and how it's solved. The people involved largely fill in the gaps. Mysteries are about why the crime happened, and the victim and the people in their lives are central, and the crime is solved partly with the how, but largely by the detective learning about them and their lives. A lot of mysteries pile on the the more technical procedural stuff, but most British mysteries (and elementary) seem to stay on th mystery side of the line.

I waffle on my feelings about how often they bring up John's degree. On the one hand, there are times when there seems to be an "intellectualism over experience and instinct," (which was pretty heavy at times in the early John/Jones episodes) but usually the focus is on how he has the degree because it's a subject he loves, and he's proud of it because he worked hard for it. At the least, he doesn't really seem to have much of a superiority complex about it.